They claim that this is the case no matter what the reason behind the stillbirth.
They state the only time the risk is equal is when labour is underway and the woman is in the care of a midwife or consultant.
Dr Lucy Smith, from Leicester University, is one of the authors and has admitted the reasons for the inequality are not clear.
She said that the issue needs to be looked at ‘in more detail’ in order to come to firmer conclusions.
But smoking, obesity and poor access to health care are believed to be factors, as they are all more common in less affluent areas.
The study looks at data from 2000 to 2007, when there were more than 20,000 stillbirths.
The rate remained consistent over this period at 44 deaths for every 10,000 births.
In conclusion, the authors state: ‘A wide deprivation gap exists in stillbirth rates for most causes and is not diminishing.
‘Unexplained antepartum stillbirths accounted for 50% of the deprivation gap, and a better understanding of these stillbirths is necessary to reduce socioeconomic inequalities.’
The research is published in the online journal
BMJ Open. For more information, or to read the paper, please click
here.
